Sunday, 29 January 2017

Addicted to bad news? Don't give up hope yet!

I'd planned to get a head's start for the week by plotting my new novel. But no sooner had I opened my computer I got sucked into social media and the dramatic
executive orders being churned out in America.

What's wrong with you? I snapped at myself, as I found myself clicking off course for the hundredth, nay, millionth time. Are you addicted to bad news?

I wasn't just scanning the tweets, I was clicking on every link and googling further sides to the story. I absorbed so much negativity I ended up with a headache and had to take a break from the novel I had
forgotten to plot.

I spoke to a friend who suggested the world was being distracted on
purpose so that other deals to do with our privacy rights could be made without us noticing.
She suggested I disconnect and concentrate on my novel.

But my novel seemed a
bit pointless in the face of the impending world war. My mind flipped to Anne Frank and how many Muslims I could hide in my attic!

I knew it was a mistake to continue absorbing any more rage and counter rage so I
decided to distract myself by listening to people more intelligent than me. I
turned to TED talks.

and the world, how we see it, shaped by the news (in this example, US news 2008)

Interesting perspective, isn't
it?

I continued in my search feeling thirsty for knowledge perhaps, or guidance.

I watched a video about why some people are more altruistic than others. It
would seem that our brains have a lot to answer for. Apparently psychopaths
have a smaller amygdala which makes it more difficult for them to recognise
fear which in turn effects their capacity to empathise...

Thankfully Abigail Marsh ends her talk on a positive note. She concludes that the world is getting more compassionate
though it doesn't seem like it.

"There's a common perception
that the world is becoming more cruel, but it's not" - Marsh says. "I think it may be because we know
much more about the suffering of strangers in distant places so we now care
much more about the suffering of those strangers in distant places."